Edinburgh eco-activists struck Stone of Destiny cabinet with 'hammer and chisel'

Two eco-activists have admitted attacking the cabinet housing the Stone of Destiny in a protest over rising food prices.

Jamie Priest, 26 and Catriona Roberts, 22, were involved in the vandalism attack on the glass casing that contains the historic artefact at Edinburgh Castle last year.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told the pair, who are members of protest organisation This Is Rigged, were part of a group being shown round the Crown Jewel room by a tour guide when they launched the attack.

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Fiscal depute Matthew Miller told the court witnesses heard one protestor shout “This is a peaceful protest” at around 10.40am on November 15 last year.

Mr Miller said: “A male was seen standing in front of the cabinet housing a Crown and the Stone of Destiny. That male was carrying a can of spray paint and proceeded to spray the glass cabinet.

“The tour guide pressed a panic button and after the button had been pressed Jamie Priest began to film the male and he was joined by Ms Roberts.”

The fiscal said the words ‘The people are mightier than the Lord’ were then sprayed in Gaelic on the glass display case.

Staff members who had rushed to the scene subsequently witnessed the male striking the cabinet with items including “a hammer and a chisel”.

The court heard during the incident Ms Roberts was heard to shout: “A quarter of Scotland is living in poverty, baby products should be reduced to pre-Covid prices. There is no heritage without the people.”

The police were contacted and after arriving shorty after the protest was said to have “come to an end quite peacefully”.

Mr Miller said the Crown did not have a figure for the cost of the damage to the glass casing but will provide the details at the sentencing hearing.

Sheriff Alistair Noble granted Priest and Roberts, both from Glasgow, bail and deferred sentence on the pair to next month.

Co-accused 22-year-old Joe Madden, from Glasgow, did not appear at court and the case against him will call at the capital court in December.

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Priest and Roberts pleaded guilty to a charge of striking a display cabinet with a rock, a hammer and a chisel causing damage to the item at the Crown Jewel room at Edinburgh Castle on November 15 last year.

Following the vandalism attack This Is Rigged released a statement that read: “We targeted the Stone of Destiny because Scotland is at a critical point in its history.

“The reality of our present day is deeply concerning: A quarter of Scotland’s population have experienced food insecurity in the past year. A thousand children were rushed to hospital with acute symptoms of malnutrition.

“Meanwhile Tesco and Sainsbury’s handed shareholders a record breaking £1.2 billion while 1.2 million Scots can’t afford to eat. This is morally unacceptable. Food is a human right, hunger is a political choice.”

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The Stone of Destiny is an ancient symbol of Scotland’s monarchy, used for centuries in the inauguration of its kings.

It was seized by Edward I‘s forces from Scone during the English invasion of Scotland in 1296, and was used in the coronation of the monarchs of England.

Today the red sandstone is one of the priceless treasures on display at Edinburgh Castle and it is said the stone will only leave Scotland again for a coronation in Westminster Abbey.